Originally posted on blog.accolades.dev

Back in February 2019, I started my journey in programming. It was an incredible adventure up to this point, having all the tools and tutorials at hand and it was a trip with ups and downs.
I thought this week I’ll write about the most important things I’ll consider to advise people like me, juniors, that they recently started their coding adventure. As usual, I broke the information into parts, this time in three:

• Take notes;
• Apply the concepts;
• Document your journey.

Take notes!

Whether are handwritten notes or you are writing them on your device, take notes! Repeat the information by writing what you’ve just read or watched. It will remain engraved into your brain and you’ll have access to it at a later time.
There are many ways of taking notes, not just writing, find the one that works for you, and use it.
I am writing my notes in my Notebook and it’s beneficial, especially when I need to revisit concepts that I tend to not use for long. I am also using apps like Trello for cross devices.

Apply the concepts.

One of the best ways to test what you are learning is to apply.
By applying, I mean building. Build projects, implement what you have learned. Even that it’s sometimes accompanied by struggle. Let me be blank: the struggle is part of the journey and it’s the part where you improve.
Also, applying the concepts gives stability to fundamentals and builds a strong foundation on what you are learning.
You can check my latest project here.

Document your journey.

I know I recently said this, but again I am insisting on this topic. It’s important to document your adventure into coding. Go ahead, write a book if necessary! Sell it for 5$ or make a giveaway, but please document your path taken. You’ll thank yourself later.
One of the main benefits of documenting your journey is that you learn a lot while you are writing about the topic(s) you are studying and you don’t allow yourself to provide wrong information about it. You can record voice messages or paint on your Notebook, but this is a very important strategy to apply for growth.

Conclusion:

Take notes, benefits: the information remains engraved into your mind and you can revisit points you didn’t understand;
Applying the concepts, benefits: you learn and you build a strong good foundation by practice;
Document your journey benefits: you study the topic before documenting it, you can’t afford to release wrong information.

That’s it for this week’s article.
I am Luc and I like to think of myself that I am a 40+ of age teenager 🙂.
Until next time, happy coding.

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